Hosiery



H. HARDIE Aug. 4,v 1936.

HOS IERY Filed Jan. 19, 1954 lill im ATTORNEYS Patented Aug. ,4, 1936 HOSIEBY Harry Hardie, Baltimore, Md., assignor to The Faultless Manufacturing Company, Baltimore, Md., a. corporation Aof Maryland Application January 19, 1934, Serial No. 707,279

1 Claim.

' The present invention relates to hosiery and similar wear.

More specically, the present invention comprises the anchoring of a band of strip rubber 5 in the upper portion of a stocking or sock by means of stretchable anchoring members so as to provide a gentle, elastic constricting portion at the top of the stocking to act as a self-contained garter to hold the stocking in place.

lo In the manufacture of stockings, a double thickness tubular portion may be knitted at the upper end of the stocking and the strip of thin rubber may be inserted'within this double portion andv anchored at one edge therein so that l5 this rubber will apply a gentle constricting pressure on Atheleg of the wearer in the piace of a garter. The rubber utilized is so treated as to withstand laundering without deterioriation of the rubber.

The present invention has been embodied more especially in the type of stocking known in the trade as full fashion. The full fashion type of stocking is knitted or woven hat and is completed by a sewed seam in the back of the g5 stocking which secures the edges of the stocking together to form the complete tubular member. The present invention utilizes an overcast seam to close the edges of the stocking, which seam acts to lace the edges together.

In the manufacture of the stockings in accordance with the present invention, a thin strip of sheet rubber is inserted in the double` top of the stocking, known in the art as the welt and the rubber is sewed in place adjacent the upper edge of the stocking by elastic stitches which may pass through both sides of the welt and the elastic rubber strip. The ends oi' the rubber strip arev cut oi! substantially even with the edge of the textile body of the'stocklng'and 40 then the overcast lacing'stitch is carried over and past the ends of the rubber strip which have been brought together preferably side by side, so that the ends of the rubber strip are now securely locked together to anchor these ends one to the other and thus form a complete encircling band of a strip of highly elastic thin rubber within the top of the hosiery. This thin rubber strip is very gentle in its constrictingaction and yields readily with the ribbed textile material comprising the top and body of the stocking.

The present invention obviates the necessityv of a separate garter or supporters to hold the stocking in place. yIt is recognized that the present invention may` be embodied in constructions other than those speciiically disclosed herewith and, therefore, the disclosure is to be understood as illustrative and not in the limiting sense.

Fig. 1 illustrates the top of an uniinished 5 stocking of the "full fashion type showing a stripof thin sheet rubber sewed to the upper edge ofthe stocking by elastic stitches.

Fig. 2 illustrates the top of a hose which has been completed by the use of lacing stitches l0 forming a seam in the back of a stocking.

Fig. 3 is an enlarged detail view illustrating the type of stitch used for locking the ends oi the strip rubber together.

Fig. 4 is a sectional view on line t-i of Fig. 3. l5

Referring now more especially to the drawing. which illustrates a preferred embodiment oi' the present invention. Fig. 1 discloses a detail of the top of a full fashion uniinished hose comprising a body portion i of elastic textile material having 20 a welt 2 formed in the top thereof, preferably by knitting. This welt comprises a double walled elastic tubular construction into which a thin strip of sheet rubber t is inserted. This thin strip of sheet .rubber is sewed in place by an elastic g5 stitch 5 which presents a serrated line of stitches on the inside of the stocking and a running thread Joined by loops on the outside of the stocking. This type of stitch is very elastic and will yield easily with the stretching of the knitted textile 30 material comprising the body i of the stocking. This row of elastic stitches 5 is arranged adjacent the upper edge of the stocking and also adjacent the upper vedge of the rubber strip l. This permits the anchorage of the strip to the 35 stocking adjacent the very topmost part thereof and leaves the remainder of the rubber strip l freely slidable within the welt 2. This contributes to the comfort of the stocking on the leg of the wearer because it permits a slight move- 4o ment or shifting of the inner wall of the welt, which is in contact with the skin of the wearer, relatively to the rubber strip 4.- Fig. 2 illustrates the top of a completed hose in which the ends of the rubber strip 4, as illustrated 45 more particularly in Figs. 3 and 4. are locked together by a lacing type stitch 6. Preferably, the ends of the welt with the rubber band therein are secured together by bringing the inner faces of the welt in contact and by facing the ends of the 541iV rubber strip outwardly. This lacing stitch 8 pulls the ends of the welt and the rubber strip tightly together so that the ends of the rubber strip are securely united to form a solid joint 'i capable of withstanding substantial stress when fo i the rubber strip I is stretched. 'I'he rubber strip 4 is anchored tothe body of the stocking by this `lacing stitch 6 and this prevents any tendency of the strip to creep around within the welt. 'I'his lacing stitch 6 may be continued down the back of the leg of the stocking to complete the same as a finished piece of hosiery.

The present construction with the anchoring elastic seam adjacent the top of. the stocking forms a garter eiect at the very top edge of the stocking, the remaining width of the rubber extending toward the foot of the stocking provides sufficient Width to prevent the rubber band from cutting into the esh of the wearer. Since the majority of movement of the textile or body of the stocking occurs below the extreme top edge, this free edge portion of the rubber strip presents a very gentle pressure on the wearers leg because the inside wall of the welt is free to move relative to the majority of the area of the sheet of rubber.

Preferably, the rubber 1is relatively thin so that when the stocking is in place on the leg of the wearer, there are no bulky portions which tend to bulge outwardly and make an unsightly appearance under a close tting dress.

I 'Ihe rubber adapted for use in the present invention is of the type which is capable of Withstanding severe laundry treatment without deterioration so that the rubber band will wear as long as the textile portion of the hose.

What I claim is:

A hosiery member comprising a body with a double walled tubular upper end, a strip of thin rubber within said double walled tubular upper end, stretchable stitches anchoring said rubber of the inner surface thereof face to face to form the body portion of the hosiery member and to form a complete encircling band of thin elastic rubber anchored within the double walled upper end of the hosiery member.

HARRY HARDIE. 

